any indication, it seems impossible to predict exactly what kind of change we can expect. [♪ theme music ♪]

>> bill: hey good morning, everybody. great to see you today. happy new year. it is the "full court press" here on current tv this wednesday morning, january 2nd. i got to tell you, yeah welcome to 2013. it has got to be better than 2012. can anybody tell me one good thing that happened in 2012? well, we not only have a new year, we have a new congress starting tomorrow, and of course again the new congress has got to be better than the old congress. what a colossal embarrassment. they new over a year and a half ago they had to do something to avoid america going over the fiscal cliff. they knew they had to do something in an balanced way

that would include spending cuts and new revenue, and they took to the last minute to do it and we still ended up with a lousy deal that increases the payroll tax for every american and defines middle class americans as anybody making under $400,000 a year. hillary clinton still in the hospital this morning with a blood clot on her brain. so much for those idiotic republicans who accused her of faking her illness. now what i want to know is will allen west and john boldton and other republicans who criticized her get out there and apologize. don't hold your breath. i want to have that conversation. let's talk about it. really? you're going to lay people off because now the

government is going to help you fund your healthcare. really? i want to have those conversations, not to be confrontational, but to understand what the other side is saying, and i'd like to arm our viewers with the ability to argue with their conservative uncle joe over the dinner table.

>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is the bill press. >> bill: okay. we got a deal. is that good or bad news? hi, everybody, happy new year. great to see you. here we go charging into 2013 with the "full court press" this wednesday morning, january 2nd. great to see you. great to be back with you. hope you had a wonderful holiday break. i certainly did. and we are back in our studio here on capitol hill in washington, d.c. bringing you the news of the morning. if you are just waking up you may be surprised to find out that the house at the very last minute of the very last -- actually the first day of 2013, did under pressure cave in, republicans caved in, and

scheduled a vote, john boehner did on that senate bill that passed 89-8 the senate passed it on new year's day. the house caved in -- actually -- yeah, it was early, early in the morning on new year's day late last night at about 11:00 the house caved in passed a vote, and passed the senate version, and president obama says he will sign it. we'll get into all of that and of course take your calls at 866-55-press. good to be with you here today. we're coming to you live on current tv, on your local progressive talk radio station and live on sirris tv for this

hour only. peter ogburn, and dan henning here. >> we have been working hard. me and phone man phil have been holding down the fort. >> and our videographer siprion bolling who had a couple of days off as well. and we're all back. happy team. happy new year's eve. we celebrated with the millions of people in time square. the whole countdown. [ cheers ] >> that's not as boisterous as i'm used to hearing. >> stephanie: no.

no. [ auld lang syne playing ] >> bill: maybe it is harder for drunk people to make a lott of noise. >> i was flipping it back and forth on tv. watch they did a two-hour tribute to dick clark before the countdown. >> bill: i'm sure that got big numbers. and the embarrassment between anderson cooper -- >> i don't know why they do that. >> bill: if anderson had any self respect, he would say let her carry the show. did you have a good holiday?

>> yes, very nice. kids made out like bandits and i ended up with debt as a parent. [ laughter ] >> bill: it's just amazing how fast santa claus gets around. i hope he found his way to bethesda as well? >> he did. he made it to the eastern store, definitely. >> bill: all right. you can give us a call at 866-55-press. look forward to take your calls. i know you have got to want to talk -- you have been like me probably pent up with frustration, and embarrassment and anger at the united states congress dealing with this fiscal cliff. so we'll talk about that. give us a call at 866-55-press.

follow us on twitter and phase book and the old chat room is up and running again this morning at current tv go to current.com and click on the chat room. but first -- >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> as you head out the news on this wednesday morning, great ta and shirley twittered this week that kim kardashian is pregnant -- >> bill: oh, god, i thought you were talking about sarah palin. >> no. she is carrying kanye west's baby. she is no stranger to politics.

>> bill: david shuster was also present, so no big deal. >> by the way he is not % pregnant. >> bill: no. >> if you want to make a woman mad i learned by saying it one time, we are pregnant. no we're not. >> hugh hefner has gotten married again. they were supposed to get married a year and a half ago but the playboy playmate walked away from the 86-year-old saying it was not the kind of life she wanted to win and now has changed her mind. >> bill: i love the 60-year

difference. i tell you that is a wonderful pill, that little blue pill. when she broke off the first engagement. she auctioned off her engagement ring, $90,000. >> yeah. that's right. >> bill: don't call her a gold digger. >> in sports plenty of action yesterday, sanford winning its first rose bowl in 14 years. and northwestern winning its first bowl game in 63 years. they beat mississippi state in the gator bowl. >> bill: a lot of good football yesterday. >> got of good football. >> and i guess we have to mention the redskins. >> siprion is so happy. >> bill: he is a happy camper.

even when they were losing he was wearing his cap. >> that's true. >> this fan certainly hope the redskins make it all the way. >> bill: did anybody predict they would win the east? >> marion barry did. >> bill: he got it. yes, indeed i got to tell you when this gang went to bed last night, it looked like we had already gone over the cliff because the house republicans were saying we're not going to swallow this deal, we're going to stick to our guns. well, they caved in last night. and the president came into the white house briefing room and said this is it. we got it done. i'll sign this mother. >> obama: i will sign a law that

raises taxes on the top 2% of americans. >> bill: he said it a little more gently than i did. he also thanked particularly the guy that put the bill together. >> obama: i want to thank all of the leaders of the house and senate. in particular i want to thank the work that was done by my extraordinary vice president joe biden. >> bill: yeah, he and mitch mcconnell have known each other a long time and said come on let's get this done. i talked to some democrats who said that joe biden was on the hill yesterday meeting with house democrats. he was in there an hour talked to every one of them gave them the old sales pitch, and they said it was very very

effective. the president said it wasn't as good as he wanted but for 98% of americans it was a good job. of course tom harkin from iowa in the senate, one of the two democratic votes against the bill. here he is. >> i'm disappointed to say in my opinion this legislation that we're about to vote on falls short. first, it does not address the number 1 priority creating good middle class jobs now. unemployment remains way too high. >> bill: but the senate did approve the measure 89-8 and the house last night again about 11:00 last night approved the house, 257-167.

85 republicans voted for it. we said long before the christmas break even that if they only brought the original senate bill up to a vote enough republicans would vote for it for passage, and it took last night to prove it. it's not the best deal that we could have had. there are some good parts to it. there are some bad parts it to. the bad part it doesn't do anything about the debt ceiling. it just kicks the can down the road on the sequester. we'll have that fight again in two months. it means the payroll tax will go back up, the payroll tax holiday is over, and it also -- i think it defines middle class americans as people making

$400,000 a year. really? the average median income this country is $50,000 a year. so that a crap. the good parts of the deal, no cuts to social security, no touching medicare at all, unemployment insurance will continue and billionaires and millionaires will pay a higher tax rate. what does this say about the united states congress? what a colossal mess. what a huge embarrassment. the process is just broken. congress can't anything done. john boehner is a total loser. he has to be the most incompetent person that ever was speaker of the house of representatives. >> i don't understand how we accept these people that create

such messes. i mean they created this. this is a pure creation of congress. >> bill: total. they came up with the sequester, this whole crazy idea now they cannot find their way out of it. they have actually said we want america to fail. if we don't get tax cuts for our millionaires and billionaires we'll let the economy tank. i have to tell you if this gang -- if people like this were head of any business they say they are the -- the republican party is the party of business bs. if any business were one that way, the whole gang would have been fired a long time ago. >> yeah. imagine if you worked in a warehouse and you said okay here is my plan i'm going to go through this warehouse and break all of these jars that we have

on the shelf. okay, well what is your plan to clean the mess up? i don't know. >> bill: yeah, i don't have a plan and i don't care. what can we do about this congress. i feel embarrassed to be in washington, d.c. today. thank god i'm not a member of congress. ♪ >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." ♪ >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. [ male announcer ] pillsbury grands biscuits. delicious. but say i press a few out flat...

add some beef sloppy joe sauce... and cheese fold it all up and boom! i just made an unbeatable unsloppy joe pillsbury grands biscuits. let the making begin. [ female announcer ] what would you call an ordinary breakfast pastry that's been wrapped in a flaky crust stuffed with a gooey center toasted up all golden brown then given a delicious design? a toaster strudel. pillsbury toaster strudel. so delicious...so fun. [ rosa ] i'm rosa and i quit smoking with chantix. when the doctor told me that i could smoke for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok...

little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood hostility, agitation depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. it helps to have people around you... they say you're much bigger than this. and you are. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not

bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. ♪ >> american people are sick and

tired of incompetence and political posturing and failure of congress to come together on a bipartisan basis to solve the problem, and they want us to get the problem solved and get this nation moving forward. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: that was senator dick durbin in frustration. they feature dick durbin on the front page of the "new york times," new year's eve, just showing the frustration -- i guess it was new year's day, actually. many people thought, in particular millions and millions of americans watching this process feel it is total incompetence. anybody who says both parties are to blame. no. it is very clear who is to blame here. even senate republicans came along at the 11th hour. it was the gang of bozos that

were unwilling to get anything done. before we go to calls peter on twitter? >> yes indeed. lots to talk about on twitter we tweet @bp show. allen marion saying i wish i could go to my job and do nothing and not be fired. and re fletcher from the bush white house tweeted yesterday during all of these talks. i increased donations to charity in 2012. this deal limits my deductions so i and likely others are donate less in 2013. >> bill: yeah.

john calling from phoenix, arizona. hey, john, what do you say? >> caller: yes of course it was the republicans fault -- >> bill: well in this case it is. >> caller: our greatest flip flopper of all time hussein obama has done it again -- >> bill: get out of here. i don't want to hear that kind of crap on new year's day. if anybody can deny that this was anybody but john boehner's and his group's fault. you idiot. ron good morning. >> caller: happy new year everyone. >> bill: happy new year. >> caller: i think it is an acceptable deal. >> caller: yeah, by the way, bernie sanders even voted for it. >> caller: there you go.

the only problem is in two months we'll be faced with the same situation. yet i was thinking once it passed the senate by such an overwhelming margin, the speaker had to garner up enough republican votes to pass this bill. >> caller: john boehner had a much better deal from republicans that he walked away from, thank god he did. was president obama gave away the store about a month ago. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ every day presents another exciting issue. from financial regulation, iran getting a nuclear bomb, civil war in syria, fraud on wall street, destruction of medicare and medicaid. there are real issues here. having been a governor, i know that trade-offs are tough. things everyday exploding around

the world that leave no shortage for exciting conversations. i want our viewer to understand why things have happened. at the end of the show, you know what has happened, why its happened and more importantly, what's going to happen tomorrow.

♪

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress, this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: hey, you bet. eliot spitzer joining us in the next segment of the show. eliot spitzer post of "viewpoint" on current tv, of course. thirty-three minutes after the hour. it is the "full court press" this wednesday morning. welcome back everybody who is just joining us. we did not go over the cliff after all. the house finally went along with the compromise bill that passed the senate early on new year's day, 2:00 am about 11:00 pm last night. president obama said he would sign the bill before he hops on air force one and went back to hawaii to join his family and

round out his holiday vacation. what does this say about the united states congress? i mean the new congress has to be better than this old one. but we'll see if john boehner can survive as speaker after caving in on this deal. >> we're starting to get accounts of how this deal was made. a very interesting part of the story i think that political is reporting. harry reid and john boehner met, and john boehner greeted harry reid by saying -- he went full cheney -- he said go f yourself. harry reid responded what are you talking about? and boehner repeated go f yourself. >> bill: republicans said that in the white house?

>> in the white house. >> bill: george bush would not have been happy with that. he maintained a stricter level of decor um around the oval office. is it worth it? yeah, probably. i would have voted for it. it doesn't give us everything we wanted. crazy -- insane to define middle class americans as anybody making under $400,000 a year. the bad news is this is only going to give us temporary relief. we'll be back into in another month, in another two months, maybe two different battles coming up, and that means this gang of republican hoods in the house of representatives will still be able to muck up the

mess. i don't know if it is possible for congress to get a zero approval rating but they are well on their way. it was 9 to 10% before this. >> yeah, who thinks they did a good job with this? >> bill: yeah that republicans in congress did themselves any favors. mark out in chico, california. good morning. >> caller: hey, bill happy new year. >> bill: happy new year to you my friend. is up? >> caller: i'm a disabled veteran, and i can't believe it these people actually wanted a raise. >> bill: yeah. >> caller: and they want to take

away our money. and they need to keep their hands off of our money. >> bill: yeah, they always want to cut the people at the bottom of the chain, the people on medicare, and medicaid people like you on ssi, that's where they think we're going to balance the budget. >> caller: there's nothing to cut except for military. we don't need all of these bases around the world. >> caller: oh, yeah. and as far as the republicans go you don't get all of these veterans either. cut va benefits absolutely slice them to the bone. all right. patrice out in oakland, california. >> caller: happy new year to you. this is an acceptable bill. this is the best that could be done at this point, but you know something, we knew that they

were an obstructionist congress. we knew this from the very beginning, but this goes back to 2010 like i told my cousin. when liberals decided to sit out the election and let the tea party get in there, what do you expect to happen? this is why elections matter. hopefully we learned our lesson for 2014. when the next midterm elections come up, we know what we're dealing with now. if we get more democrats in congress we won't have to worry about this mess. >> bill: that's an excellent point. i had this discussion with my family too over the holiday. one of my cousins was saying it is really good for the country not to have one party in charge. and, you know, in theory that may be true, but not with this

gong of republicans. >> caller: definitely not. and as far as boehner is concerned, he is finished, and the tea party is going to be out of there in 2014. i think we'll see a democratic revolution in 2014. >> bill: patrice only if people don't forget what happened. that's what i'm afraid of. people are going to forget and put this same old gang in there. you are so right patrice. we have got to clean house. rob up in queens new york. >> caller: good morning. i think it was a good deal, because they pass it through and we avoided getting a credit downgrade, but i don't know why we're the only country that has this fiscal cliff. what is it? it's a construct of boehner. >> bill: exactly. peter made that point earlier.

they are the ones who created this crisis in the first place, right when they couldn't approve the debt ceiling without these massive cuts. >> caller: i was wondering why they didn't deal with social security and keep the 6.2% and then extend the care to $500,000 or 250. >> bill: yeah. by the way that's the way to go with social security which by the way is not broke no matter what they say. it is good until i think 2035 but we have to extend it beyond that. and the reason why i think it was good not to let them get into social security in this round, because it does not contribute to the deficit, and if they had had a chance to

tamper with social security they would have gutted it and reduced the benefits that current recipients are receiving. just one other noted, secretary of state hillary clinton, the latest reports from the hospital are that she is recovering nicely. the doctors expect her to have a complete recovery. she has this very rare blood clot between her brain and her skull as a result of the concussion she suffered when she fainted. and then with a routine mri discovered that she had this blood clot which it's a life-threatening blood clot but again they got it under control. it does remind us, however, of some of those crazy,

irresponsible republicans who suggested that when it was reported the secretary was ill and not able to testify in front of congress about what happened in benghazi that she was faking it. here is former republican congressman allen west from florida on fox news. >> i'm not a doctor but it seems as though that the secretary of state has come down with a case of benghazi flu. >> bill: oh, yeah she faked it so she wouldn't have to testify -- >> what a sum bag. >> bill: john bolton same deal. >> when you don't want to go to a meeting or conference or event, you have a diplomatic illness. i certainly hope it's nothing serious, but this was revealed in a way that i think it was not

transparent. >> bill: uh-huh. just want to be sure to announce that john bolton and allen west have scheduled a news conference where they are going to apologize for calling hillary clinton a faker. >> yeah if only. >> caller: yeah, if only. they ought to be drummed out of public life. >> john bolton said i hope it's nothing serious, but that's not going to stop me from taking a joke about it. >> bill: exactly. eliot spitzer is coming up next. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv this is the "bill press show." you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

(vo) current tv gets the converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. ♪

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio, and current tv. >> bill: you bet. 13 minutes now before the top of the hour. it is wednesday january 2nd and we're back here on current tv. and eliot spitzer giving us a little preview of what is happening later tonight. happy new year to you. >> happy new year to you. >> caller: 2013 has to be better than 2012, doesn't it? >> yeah, it has got to be better. although we reelected the

president, the economy is slowly inching back no cataclysms of 2008 economically. >> bill: and we started "full court press" and "viewpoint" on current tv. >> there you go, so the media world is jumping with joy. [ laughter ] >> bill: i'm sure you were surprised as everybody else to find out oh my god we didn't go over the cliff after all. how good of a deal is this? >> ah. [ laughter ] >> i feel this whole thing is an elephant giving birth to a mouse. after all of the screaming and shouting, this is it? most folks will see their taxes going up. >> bill: yeah everybody is talking about the tax cut for the 98%, but the taxes are going up for everybody. >> yeah.

the other thing is by lifting the threshold to 450 for couples, you are really diminishing the revenue that the government gets from this. so you are not really giving government either enough money to do anything on the deficit side if that's your focus as it is for the republicans, or on the revenue side to invest which is what we would rather see the government do, and they didn't deal with the debt ceiling. >> bill: i know. nor the sequester. >> or the sequester. the sequester -- look they are going to end up a month from now right back to negotiating point they were last year where the president was stuck between a rock and a hard place. >> bill: i know. for all of the reasons you point out this is hardly something you

can be proud of and how can people with a straight face really claim that if you are making $450,000 you a middle class family right? >> well, it is hard to get quite what this resents in terms of -- in terms of good policy. there's just very little there to be happy with, and, you know, especially after years of saying we'll finally be forced to deal with the fiscal cliff -- >> bill: yeah, that gets to my next question, which is what does this say to you about the process, about the congress? i mean how broken can it get? >> i think also the white house. i don't think the white house had a coherent strategy in the beginning. this is not a deal that is coherent in terms of policy going forward. if the president wants to lay

out an agenda of investing in our future there really is no money for it. >> bill: right. we can be grateful i guess, that we didn't get stuck with the deal that the president wanted to give john boehner a month ago, and boehner walked away from. >> right. part of negotiating is exhaustion. everybody knows at a concern point you are just sick and tired saying how do we end this thing. and i think that is what has played out here time and time again. it's not good policy. >> bill: eliot spitzer host of "viewpoint" at 8:00 pm east coast time 5:00 pacific. eliot, the house walked away

last night from its promise to deal with relief particularly for new york and new jersey and the states hardest hit by sandy. talk abouter responsible. >> as you said you had to really be up in the wee hours of the morning to really pick up on this. but i think this is partly kind of a peevish response on the part of the republican house that said okay. we have to do the cliff deal but we'll stick it to you someplace else. >> bill: yeah. >> so what this means everything goes back to square zero, they'll have to start over on this, which at a minimum delays all of this stuff. and i think the number there may be a casualty of -- the republicans will say okay we

voted against our political judgment, but we're not going to give away 60 million, $60 billion to blue states new york and new jersey and say to our taxpayers, your taxes are going to go up so they can get the benefit. >> bill: yes. i'm looking forward to hearing chris christie talk about this a little bit later today. >> i understand what you are saying, but i don't think i look forward to hearing chris christie talk about anything. [ laughter ] he is just so overwrought and wrong all of the time. just toeing the republican line and trying to become the republican voice, and suddenly because he needs the money, so he embraces the president and everybody cozies up to them.

no, he has been wrong about fundamental issues. >> bill: all right. more on that coming up tonight on "viewpoint," i'm sure. happy new year my friend. >> happy new year to you. >> bill: all right. great show 8:00 pm 550 pacific on current tv. >> announcer: this is the bill show. ♪

tt (vo) current tv gets the converstion started next.

>> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. ♪ >> announcer: take your emails on any topic at anytime. this is the "bill press show," live on your radio, and current tv. >> bill: hey, good to hear from you, more on the fiscal cliff in

the next hour. robert says seasonal the behavior of our congress the equivalent of jack asses putting on a dog and pony show? yeah. lynn says the republican is the tea party republicans in safe districts. absolutely. but we have to dislodge them in 2014. sarah says boehner and his tea party caucus have one goal, to punish obama for winning and the people who elected him. yeah, you talk about sore losers.

[♪ theme music ♪]

>> bill: good morning sports fans, and welcome, welcome to the "full court press" here this wednesday morning january 2nd. good to see you here today. it's the "full court press" on current tv in the first workday of this new year 2013 and we have a deal yes. house republicans last night caved in and agreed to schedule a vote on a bill that had passed the senate and the house, and president obama says he will sign it. now we'll have to take a look at it, and see how good of deal it is. the "full court press" right here on current tv. stay with us. it. really? you're going to lay people off because now the government is going to help you fund your healthcare. really? i want to have those conversations, not to be

confrontational, but to understand what the other side is saying, and i'd like to arm our viewers with the ability to argue with their conservative uncle joe over the dinner table. [ male announcer ] pillsbury grands biscuits. delicious. but say i press a few out flat... add some beef sloppy joe sauce... and cheese fold it all up and boom! i just made an unbeatable unsloppy joe pillsbury grands biscuits. let the making begin. [ female announcer ] what would you call an ordinary breakfast pastry that's been wrapped in a flaky crust stuffed with a gooey center toasted up all golden brown then given a delicious design? a toaster strudel. pillsbury toaster strudel. so delicious...so fun.

♪

>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: it is wednesday morning, and we have a deal but is that good news or bad news? what do you say? hello, everybody. welcome back. good to be back with you this wednesday january 2nd, the first workday of the new year 2013. hope you had a great holiday break. i certainly did. we all did. well, almost all of us did. and the team is back together here again this morning on the "full court press" coming to you live across this great land of ours, coast-to-coast. good to have you with us today. look forward to taking your calls about what hand. if you are just waking up to the news you'll be surprised to

learn that congress at the 11th-plus hour already in the new year republicans did cave republicans in the house did vote to approve the measure that passed the senate earlier in the day. yesterday president obama announcing that he will sign the deal. so we have avoided the fiscal cliff for exactly one month, because they didn't do anything about the debt ceiling. so that's about as much relief as you can expect i guess out of this bunch of clowns called the united states congress. we invite your calls, your comments at 866-55-press this effects every single one of you, and whether you know it or not, if you are still a wage earner, your taxes are going to go up as effective as -- effective right now. >> yeah.

>> bill: they already have. again, give us a call at 866-55-press, and follow us on twitter and on facebook at facebook@billpressshow. the people press here reunited for the first time in about three weeks. peter ogburn dan henning. >> hey, hey. >> good morning. >> phone man phil and videographer siprion bolling. >> yes. >> bill: happy new year everyone. i'm glad that eliot spitzer reminded me that reelected president obama, because i couldn't think of one good thing that happened but apart from that, it was a pretty dismal year. >> i had a great year. great job, great family. everything is good. giants won the super bowl. >> bill: oh, yeah right. >> wow!

that is a leap. holy cow. >> bill: yeah how did they do this year? those giant fans that's all they have to hold on to. >> yeah, it happened in 2012. [ laughter ] >> bill: the word from the hospital in new york is that secretary of state hillary clinton is recovering nicely and expecting to make a full recovery from the blood clot on her brain. very, very dangerous situation. doctors have it under control, however, it brings it to our memory by the republicans claiming she was actually faking it. here is john bolton on fox news. >> when you don't want to go to a meeting, conference or event, you have a diplomatic illness.

i certainly hope it's nothing serious, but this was revealed in -- in a way that i think was not transparent. >> bill: maybe he should tell hilary's doctor that it is not real. just an diplomatic illness. he is such an embarrassment. >> it's just sick. when guys say things like that. you have to realize that these words could come back to haunt you. >> bill: anyhow we have got a lot coming up here with congressman eliot holm norton -- eleanor holmes norton sorry. and we'll have the friend of bill in the next hour. but first -- >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> on this wednesday other stuff you need to know folks staying

at home on new year's eve had several tv choices for which to watch the ball drop. ryan seacrest carson daly and anderson cooper and kathy lee griffin. cnn received a negligible number of watchers. >> bill: it's sad to say that you had nothing better to do on new year's eve than sit home and watch television. >> i don't go out on new year's eve because it is amateur hour. if i do anything, i go to a party at a friend's house or have people over. i didn't do anything. i flipped through some channels. new year's eve party coverage the worst.

every one of them was terrible. >> yeah it's not great television, but you know what -- >> bill: my recommendation is go to bed. >> i actually watched fiscal cliff coverage. it was better than ryan seacrest. i was asleep by midnight. >> bill: happy new year. [ laughter ] >> a new list of words from 2012 that should be banned. the annual choices of words and phrases that we should never say again. it includes kick the can down the road. spoiler alert. bucket list, trending guru, yolo, which stands for you only live once and of course fiscal cliff. >> i'm okay -- >> bill: with all of those. i am too. >> and fox news has lost a lot -- yolo you only live once

man. fox news has lost a lot of viewers since the election. sean hannity and bill o'reilly lost about half of their viewership. it is just a return to the numbers he had before the republican national convention at the end of the summer. so they enjoyed about two months after higher ratings. however, other networks did a better job of retaining new viewers after the election than fox did. >> bill: those are all of the people who believed the fox propaganda. >> and let it be said that sean hannity is one of those people who accused hillary clinton of having faked the illness -- >> bill: oh, yes. thank you for reminding me. the latest -- i'm sorry to violate the rule -- but the latest on the fiscal cliff.

the first thing i did when i got up. i can see the capitol from our bedroom, and i looked out to see if the light was on meaning they were still in session. the light was off, so i knew they had gone home or got something done. picked up my iphone and had a flash alert from "politico" saying the house republicans caved in john boehner scheduled a vote and the house of representative approved a senate bill that passed the senate early yesterday morning, 2:00 am on new year's day. the house at 11:00-plus last night, passed the same bill. president obama before he hopped on a plane to go back to hawaii and finish out his holiday vacation, he said of course i'll

sign it. >> obama: i'll sign the law. >> bill: and the president said this not everything i wanted but for 98% of americans it's a good deal. >> obama: under this law, more than 98% of americans, and 97% of small businesses will not see their income taxes go up. >> bill: moveon.org put out an alert saying it is a bad deal the president should not sign it. tom harkin one of our good friends in the united states senate said this bill doesn't meet the test and he voted against it. >> i'm disappointed to say that in my opinion this legislation that we're about to vote on falls short. first it does not address the

number one priority creating good middle class jobs now. unemployment remains way too high. >> bill: good points made by tom harkin. bernie sanders on the other hand voted for it. and one of the reasons senator sanders voted for it was the compromise bill does not touch social security and does not touch medicare and does not touch medicaid. so a couple of points. give us a call at 866-55-press. got a great deal but not the worst deal either. it doesn't touch social security or medicare. it does increase taxes on millionaires and billionaires. it does continue unemployment

insurance benefits. at the same time the problems with this bill are, it doesn't do anything about the debt ceiling, kicks that can down the road to use another phrase we're note supposed to use anymore. it doesn't do anything about the sequester cuts half in defense and half in social programs. we're going to be fighting over that again in another month. it also defines middle class -- this is what i just can't understand -- defines middle class as a couple making $450,000 a year. [ laughter ] >> bill: the median income in this country is $50,000, right? >> yeah. >> bill: so how can you possibly say up to $450,000 are middle class and deserve a tax break? so it is a mess.

i would have voted for it. but what do you think about this deal 866-55-press -- by the way the other bad part payroll taxes are going to go up. and congress itself -- how much more broken can congress get than it is right now? they have known -- they had to deal with this for a year and a half. it was clear that they had to approve new revenue and a combination of new revenue and new spending cuts. it was clear we could not afford to continue the tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires and this bunch of clowns couldn't come to grips with it until the very very end. john boehner couldn't corral them even up to the very very end. the only thing he finally was

forced into holding a vote. and it's 85 right? yeah 85 republicans abandoned the tea party, abandoned john boehner and ended up voting for the bill so we have got a broken congress more than ever, and we got a bad deal. 866-55-press, let's talk about it here on the "full court press" this wednesday morning, january 2nd. happy new year. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show," now on current tv. ♪ converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks.

i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. ♪ >> american people are sick and tired of incompetence and

political posturing and failure of congress to come together on a bipartisan basis to solve the problem, and they want us to get the problem solved and get this nation moving forward. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: dick durbin saying yesterday -- complaining about -- and acknowledging he was embarrassed by the incompetence of his colleagues republicans in the senate, they finally came around, but it wasn't until the 11th hour that republicans caved in. they were forced into it, and man, they look like clowns this morning. conservative republicans, angry at the fact that they caved in and republicans who are anywhere near reasonable knowing that they should have done this and worked everything out that could have worked out actually a much better deal if they had been willing to sit down and

negotiate in good faith a long time ago. looks pretty bad if you ask me. 866-55-press. peter comments on the social media word? >> lots of good stuff out there, but i did have one story i wanted to mention. it is a new year so new laws started to take effect. gay marriage now in maryland kicked in. and here is a psa for our friends in denver, as of monday they open up at 4:20 which makes sense, you can now smoke pot in denver they opened up their first legal pot-use club. opened up at 4:20. 200 people signed up you pay $29.99 admission price, and you bring your own pot, and you can

hang out there and smoke pot in denver. >> bill: field trip. tom calling from brooklyn new york. >> bill: hey, bill. love your show. >> bill: thank you. >> caller: i have a point to make about the fiscal cliff. >> bill: yeah. >> caller: this congress they are so incompetent over the fiscal cliff that this should have been done a long time ago. >> bill: totally. >> caller: but here is my point, how quickly they voted to pass tarp and give $700 billion to bail the banks out, but for the american people, the republicans, oh, no they wanted all of these concessions blah blah, blah. that's the point i wanted to make. >> bill: that's a good point. their priorities are the wall street bankers and million airs

and billionaires and up to the very end they said they were willing to let the economy tank unless they could get bush tax cuts for the millionaires and billionaires. here is how totally out of it right, the house republicans are. grover norquist, republican lobbiest grover norquist even said the senate deal was an okay deal. he would vote for it if he were a senator, he said because republicans should still be part of it because -- this is a spin on his part because 84% of the bush tax cuts were still in place. and yet those tea party house

reasoning wouldn't go along with grover norquist. we catholics say there is a problem when you are holier than the pope. well, that's the case with these house republicans. i don't know. congress is so broken i don't know how we can fix it other than in 2014 target every one of these tea party republicans with a even a responsible republican and throw out this congress. their goal is to destroy this country. arthur delaney will join us when we come back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ every day presents another exciting issue. from financial regulation, iran getting a nuclear bomb, civil war in syria, fraud on wall street, destruction of medicare and medicaid. there are real issues here. having been a governor, i know that trade-offs are tough. things everyday exploding around

the world that leave no shortage for exciting conversations. i want our viewer to understand why things have happened. at the end of the show, you know what has happened, why its happened and more importantly, what's going to happen tomorrow.

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>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress, this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: hey, we're back at it. yep, new year, same old grind. here we are, thirty-three minutes after the hour. it's the "full court press." on this first workday of the new year january 2nd, 2013. good to see you today. arthur delaney at "huffington post" covers issues of the day, particularly issues in front of the united states congress, and how they impact the middle class and the pour particularly. we wanted to talk to him today about how the middle class and the poor fair today in this fiscal fix that the house republicans finally approved last night at about 11:00 p.m. arthur good to see you again.

happy new year. >> happy new year. >> bill: did you have a good break? >> no i was at the capitol. it was more fortunate than some of my colleagues who actually rang in the new year at the capitol, which sounded miserable. but i was there most days. >> bill: i was talking to a couple of friends yesterday when i got back in town they actually spent new year's eve at the capitol in their offices. >> new year's eve is kind of a drag anyway. if everyone would just agree to stay home, it would be a lot better. >> bill: and then the senate finally votes at 2:00 am new years day, and the house republicans scheduling a vote last night at about 11:00.

let's look at this fiscal fix or whatever you want to call it. it is not all good news for the middle class, right? >> right. >> bill: 98% of americans get a tax cut -- >> they get to keep the bush tax cuts that have been in place for ten years. 100% of working americans get a tax hike. >> bill: yes. >> that is the expiration of the payroll tax holiday that we have had for the past two years. it was a measure stimulate the economy, and made everyone's paycheck 2% bigger. so that's gone. it will be about a thousand dollars less per year for the average household. >> bill: and that kicks in right away, right? >> yeah, that's it. it's gone-zo. and nobody seems too upset about

it, except for a new progressive economists. >> bill: is the answer to that that we need it? that social security needs it? that we were hurting social security -- would have by continuing that tax? >> yeah advocates of social insurance were saying this tax really harms social security because you are weakening the connection between have toward that program because they get used to the idea they can have less taxes, and the financing of the program could be harmed. i mean in this case they replaced the missing money that had been diverted with general revenue, but both democrats and republicans took up that argument; that we hurt social security if we keep on doing this. >> bill: one compromise that was reached is payroll taxes will go up for 100% of americans -- every wage earner

right? >> yeah. >> bill: no doubt about it. what about unemployment insurance, democrats are saying this is a big plus. >> it is a big plus. it's maybe not as big as some -- as the white house is saying. it's $30 billion, and we're preserving unemployment insurance for people who are out of work six months or longer and have used up state benefits. they get to move on to a federal extension. this is something that the white house is saying look this is a real prize. and republicans agreed that they wouldn't insist on off-setting the cost of it which is pretty significant, and, you know two million people have had their benefits stopped as of saturday so it could have become a crisis

for a lot of folks. >> bill: this is something that obama insisted had to be part of the deal. so he won that argument right? >> absolutely. >> bill: what i found interesting about this was that republicans who have always said we're not going to spend $1 unless it is offset somewhere else. we are not going to add to the debt. in this case they rolled over and said we'll take this $30 billion and add it to the national debt, right? >> that's right. and they have rolled over on it before. in 2010 it was part of the bush tax cuts. so as long as it is part of a big package, they'll go along with it. >> bill: uh-huh. >> i think some democrats thought they had enough leverage on this anyway without giving on tax rates, but we don't know.

>> bill: the other part of this deal which i find impossible to comprehend is we have redefined middle class. i always thought when i was growing up that our family was middle class, and my father made $10,000 a year. now given that was many years ago. in today's dollars he probably would have been making 40 45. the median income in this country is -- >> 50. >> bill: $50,000. so we have redefined a middle class couple as $450,000. >> yeah, when they are saying this is 2% of americans. it really is. >> bill: if we get up to 450, are we talking about the top 1%? >> i think we're actually above the 2% -- i don't know exactly

where it falls in the percentage, but it's up there. >> bill: maybe now that it's -- maybe 1.5% right? yeah, we're increasing -- raising taxes. >> we have this threshold. when you are saying -- this is small businesses you're talking about and employers, you hear people say well it is not all that much money after you factor in how much i pay for my kid's tuition, and i need to refresh my wardrobe every six months. it's not that much money. >> bill: yeah, i think the president did cave in on that

one. even 250 -- even the idea that $250,000 is middle class i think is absurd. >> yeah, so many people so disappointed by that cave especially after he said no way am i going to budge on this. now he's saying he won't negotiate on the debt limit. >> bill: another aspect of this deal which a lot of liberals and just people are pointing out, okay. this might have saved us three weeks or anybody a month, but we'll be right back into the soup again over the debt ceiling and the sequester, both of which were delayed. so in the sense that what we saw in summer of 2011 that whole battle over the debt ceiling, and what we just went through over this battle over the fiscal

cliff, we'll see yet another repeat before the end of the month, right? >> you bet. remember changes to social security, medicare and medicaid -- that stuff is coming right back. and i would be surprised if we don't wind up with some of that stuff. >> bill: john boehner could have gotten a better deal if he had taken the deal president obama offered three weeks ago. >> yeah and he could have had a better, better deal if he has taken what the president was offering in 2011. >> bill: yeah. all right. your comments on what is good and what it is bad about this deal 866-55-press 866-557-7377. this was not part of the fiscal

cliff negotiations but the house of representative had promised before they left town they would deal with hurricane relief for the victims of hurricane sandy. how did that turnout? >> they just didn't do that. that's an oops. people were furious on the house floor last night. >> bill: stanny hoyer. >> i am deeply disappointed mr. speaker, and the people who have been damaged by sandy, including governor christie a governor and governor cuomo, a democrat should be deeply disappointed. >> bill: yeah i can't wait to hear what chris christie has to say about that today. >> i'm sure christie will let us know how he feels.

>> bill: no doubt about that. 866-55-press. we're here on the "full court press" with arthur delaney. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

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(vo) only on current tv. ♪ >> announcer: this is the "full court press," the "bill press show," live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: americans waking up to the fact that -- maybe the surprising fact that congress actually did -- the house of representatives did approve the compromise deal to avoid going over the fiscal cliff late last

night, and now they are trying to find out what is in this deal or what is not in the deal and how good or bad is it. we're trying to sort it all out with arthur delaney, who covers the hill for the "huffington post." and is the editor to the huff post newsletter. peter what sup on social media. >> we're tweeting @bpshow. 250,000 and above would have been the top 2% but 400,000 to 450,000 represents .016% of

americans. and if you want to know exactly what people care about aria says i hope it means i can find a job soon. >> bill: president obama did say last night before he left to rejoin his family he said i want to make thing clear, i am not going to have another debate with congress with raising the debt ceiling. it's one thing to say that but it's another thing to make it happen, right? >> the way he negotiates is -- >> bill: to give away the store. >> yeah. >> bill: i think he will hang tough on this. because i think he learned his lesson the last time, but even if he does it doesn't mean the republicans are going to agree with it.

>> i think there are numerous occasions where people say well obama learned his lesson last time, he won't do that this time. but we'll see what it means. >> bill: mark is calling from denver, colorado. happy new year. >> caller: thank you. i want to make a comment about the payroll tax which as i understand it is going to be going up. >> bill: it has already. >> yes, which is going to hit me immediately, because i am a paycheck to paycheck earner. meanwhile president obama caved on the 250,000 and up. like your show dearly bill, but how many times do you have to get burned before you say fire hurts? [ laughter ] >> bill: fair question mark. i just want to point out.

i'm in good company here. first of all i wouldn't say it is a good deal. i would have voted for it -- held my nose and voted for it, but bernie sanders voted for it too. and there is nobody more liberal than bernie sanders. >> bernie sanders wanted the payroll tax cut holiday to go away almost more than anyone else in congress. >> bill: he also didn't want anything touching social security or medicare. >> right. >> bill: and that's one good part about this deal. no, you were right earlier, arthur we'll revisit that. but point well made mark thank you. by the way on the payroll tax cut -- look, i'm sorry to see it go. i think it is a mistake to let it expire.

i wonder how many people really notice that 2% in their payroll. >> if you are an average american household that is like 50 bucks away. and you notice what your paycheck looks like if you look at your paycheck. people may be scratching their heads if they are not following politics. >> bill: yeah, how about marianne out in kalamazoo, michigan. >> caller: good morning, i had a comment and a question. the comment is you remember a few months ago we were all saying we all have to give a little bit and bare the burden -- >> bill: right. >> caller: so i view the $400,000 as the middle class giving a little bit. >> bill: okay. now what is your question? >> caller: what if obama and

biden had said this is the deal take it or leave it? republicans say, no we won't take it, where would we be? >> bill: we would be over the cliff, and the -- and when the market opened today we would probably go down a thousand points. that would be my take. >> or republicans would have caved. >> no. because they are going on sunday's show and saying why would we agree to 250 or 400, but they are saying that out loud. >> bill: yeah. >> so -- >> bill: i think if it had been all or nothing, if both sides had said all or nothing, we would have ended up with nothing. i'm glad we ended up with something, i am. hey, great to see you, my friend. i hope this is just though first of many visits in 2013. >> i hope so.

>> bill: thanks so much for coming in today. and when we come back the president is out of here. i'll tell you what is on his schedule today. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ is a fantastic experience. 30 shrimp for $11.99. i can't imagine anything better. you're getting a ton of shrimp and it tastes really good! [ male announcer ] hurry in to red lobster's 30 shrimp for just $11.99! choose any two of five savory shrimp selections like mango jalapeño shrimp and parmesan crunch shrimp. two delicious shrimp selections on one plate! all with salad and unlimited cheddar bay biscuits. 30 shrimp, just $11.99 for a limited time. wow, that's a lot of shrimp. i'm ryon stewart i'm the ultimate shrimp lover, and i sea food differently.

(vo) current tv gets the converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso.

(vo) only on current tv. ♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. here we go in the next hour congress woman eleanor holmes norton will be in studio with us as well as evan from talking points memo. the president announced he had no public events on his schedule yesterday.

then it was announced that he would have a statement in response to the house passing the fiscal cliff measure. he made that statement at 11:20 pm last night. and then it was announced the president is taking off, and walked out the door of the residence, hopped on marine 1, and at midnight left andrew's air force base for honolulu. he is probably getting close to honolulu right now.

[♪ theme music ♪]

>> bill: hey, good morning, everybody. what do you say? welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv this first workday of the new year 2013. good to see you today, and look forward to talking about the issues of the day, and taking your calls at 866-55-press. i got to tell you 2013 has to be better than last year. other than the reelection of president obama i can't think of one good things that happened in 2012. we have a new congress starting tomorrow. and it has to be a lot better than the old congress. what a colossal mess and

embarrassment this congress has been. they finally came to some agreement on how to avoid the fiscal cliff. it's not such a great deal. it gets rid of the payroll tax holiday and redefined middle class americans as those couples making $450,000 a year. what is that all about. on another front, good news out of new york city where doctors say that hillary clinton is expected to make a full recovery. and those republicans who said she was faking it are now going to apologize. oh, yeah? lots more coming up. stay with us. the "full court press." i want to have that conversation. let's talk about it. really? you're going to lay people off because now the government is going to help you fund your healthcare. really? i want to have those

conversations, not to be confrontational, but to understand what the other side is saying, and i'd like to arm our viewers with the ability to argue with their conservative uncle joe over the dinner table. rich, chewy caramel rolled up in smooth milk chocolate. don't forget about that payroll meeting. rolo.get your smooth on. also in minis.

♪ >> announcer: broadcasting

across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: well, we got a deal. is that good news or bad news? we're still trying to sort it out. good to see you today welcome back. how about it, first workday of the new year, 2013 and our first day back from a long holiday break. hope you enjoyed yours as much as we enjoyed ours. we have a lot of breaking news to talk about this morning. in case you are just joining us believe it or the house of republicans caved in last night. they scheduled a vote on a compromise reached between the house and the senate is on how to avoid the fiscal cliff, they scheduled a vote and 85 republicans jumped the ship.

the question is how good of deal it is? and what is next? we'll get into all of that here together this morning on the "full court press," and give you a chance to sound out at 866-55-press. that's our toll free number. we invite your comments also. i want to invite you to follow us on twitter, @bpshow. on facebook at facebook@billpressshow, and to help us sort out all of the good and bad of the fiscal cliff deal this morning, evan covers congress and the white house for talking points memo. happy new year. >> happy new year to you. 2013, i never saw i would see it. that was a long, long 2012.

>> bill: it was, and every time we turn into a new year, it just takes a few days to get used to it, doesn't it. >> i was just getting used to 2012. >> i have been getting any date wrong all morning. >> bill: yeah, it takes you a while to make that transition, so now we have to start saying it. >> yeah. >> and at tpm my whole section of the website has been 2012.talkingpoints.com, so now i feel like i have lost an entire website section. >> bill: yeah. by the way thanks to david shuster for filling in last week while i was on the west coast. we will talk about the fiscal cliff, the house did get that done.

one thing they did not get done which has made a lot of people on the east -- [ cell phone beeping. ] >> oops. sorry. party foul. >> yeah bill's never goes off. [ laughter ] >> bill: as i was saying a lot of people on the east coast not particularly happy that the house agreement to do something about hurricane relief for particularly new york and new jersey, they promised to do it last night and changed their mind at the last minute. eric cantor did. stan hoyer among others not happy. >> i am deeply disappointed mr. speaker, and the people who have been damaged by hurricane sandy, including governor chris christie and governor cuomo, should be deeply disappointed

and yes, angry, that this congress would adjourn without addressing the pain of our fellow citizens. >> bill: it is outrageous -- i have not been there personally but seen so much video of the horrific destruction in parts of new york and new jersey -- >> that is still there, yeah. >> bill: yeah, people still suffering, and the congress just basically saying, we don't care about this. >> yeah, it's just the house, right? because the senate had actually done some stuff, and had planned to come back one more day and deal with what the house passed and in the midst of all of this stuff at the last minute they just pulled it off of the agenda. and it was a bipartisan anger at the house leadership last night

when that happened. >> bill: eleanor holmes norton representing the district of columbia will be joining us in studio about 20 minutes from now. but first -- >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> hugh hefner getting married for the third time. tying the knot with crystal harris on new year's eve. they were supposed to get married a year and a half ago, but the 26-year-old playmate walked away from the 86-year-old saying it was not the kind of lifestyle she wanted to live but has since changed her mind. >> bill: who says senior citizens can't love. >> he can always walk around in pajamas all the time -- >> yeah, and the whole something borrowed and something blue. we know the blue was the viagra.

>> bill: a wonderful little pill. >> an odd tradition of cars getting torched in france on new year's eve continued. nearly 1200 cars were set on fire on new year's eve. >> bill: what is that? >> did they win a championship or something? >> no one was injured. all of the cars that were burned were empty, but it is an odd crime wave that has been going on since the early 1990s. >> i don't think i would like that. >> bill: yeah. >> and gallop is out with hissist of the most admired people in the world. president obama was the most admired man, hillary clinton chosen as the most admired woman

in the world. on the women's side michelle obama, oprah winfrey, condoleezza rice and the queen of england. >> bill: where is john boehner on that list? >> not in the top five. >> bill: evan mcmorris with talking points memo. i was surprised to wake up and discover that the house has voted for this senate bill. it's not what john boehner wanted, right? he was really forced into holding a vote and letting republicans do whatever they wanted to do. >> that's right. but the end result is sort of the thing that a lot of more moderate republicans had been telling their party to do all along, which is get these tax

rates raised on the rich and move on with our lives to the next thing. and they got some concessions out of obama in the end. >> bill: but if they had done this a month or two weeks ago, they could have said this is really a victory for us. having been forced into it i think makes them look disorganized -- >> you are exactly right. you had the speaker of the house and paul ryan voting one way on this bill, and you had eric cantor the majority leader and majority whip voting the other way. everything looks totally

fractious -- >> they vote on thursday tomorrow, right? >> yeah. >> bill: so do you think eric cantor will take a -- take a shot -- i hate to use that phrase, or try to dethrone boehner? >> i don't know if cantor will but -- >> bill: paul ryan? >> -- there has been a conservative chorus of republicans, especially the tea party side after what happened earlier this month when boehner ousted from committee assignments, but last night -- i was watching twitter last night as this vote was going on. and erick erickson gets on there and says that paul ryan's vote for this deal sort of puts an end to 2016 speculation for him.

i mean this is a deeply frac house event right now. where maybe they could have found a way to message this as all of them being together but instead this is -- it looks like from the outside just all about the deep divisions in that caucus. >> bill: sticking to the politics before we get to the policy. on the political front, it's not the best deal but it is a big win for obama, isn't it? >> i would say it's a pretty big win for obama. he has been trying to lock in -- he has been talking about keeping most of the bush tax cuts all along, and trying to raise them back to clinton levels for the rich. we argue what rich is. we talked about $250,000 a

million dollars, and now it came down sort of in the middle of that. which makes me to happy to say, i'm now in the middle class -- >> firmly middle class. >> firmly middle class. but in the end he got what he wanted. they have been trying to change this to all of these things that have really panicked the left. >> bill: and none of those are in this deal? >> none of it is in there. >> bill: so take an assessment is as you pointed out to me social security is not included medicare is not included. the good part is for at least those with income above $400,000 they are going to be paying back

to what it was when president clinton was in charge. >> right. >> bill: not so good is the payroll tax holiday is over. >> uh-huh. >> bill: we redefined the middle class which was already a stretch, to 400, and we did nothing about the debt ceiling or sequester meaning we're going to be back in the same old soup in a month. >> that's true. people say this estate tax got locked in. that's a big deal too. to lock in it at 5 million is a gift too. >> bill: but goes up to $15 million in the next decade. >> that's right. but there are a lot of things in this package that republicans

should be happy about, that they were able to sort of put into law, but because they couldn't get together and talk about revenue at all until after obama shellacked them in an election they have no way of sort of taking their -- taking their victory lap on this. there has been some attempts. grover norquist was on tv talking about how this tax hike threat which is theoretically in complete opposite to his pledge but that's not what it is. >> bill: it shows you how extreme the tea party republicans are, when grover norquist -- which by the way is the worst political spin i have ever seen.

but he's caved himself. but when even grover norquist says this is an okay deal and i would vote for it. the tea party republicans in the house said uh-huh, we ear not going to go along. how good of deal is it? 866-55-press, your comments. welcome here we're talking fiscal cliff and other issues. >> announcer: on your radio, and on current tv this is the "bill press show." converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso.

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i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. ♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill

press show." >> bill: congress woman eleanor holmes norton coming up next joining us now is evan from talking points memo. peter what do we have -- >> we're tweeting @bpshow. ruth says compromise means nobody gets everything they want, but it is better than nothing. and kirk tweeting @us, congress may have passed the fiscal pass but failed to vote for hurricane sandy relief. >> bill: there's no way you can defend that vote. let's say hello to rachel calling from memphis, tennessee. good morning. >> good morning, bill. happy new year.

>> bill: happy new year to you. >> caller: the thing is this is like sports, and we just cannot drop the ball. that's the main thing we have to make sure. i'm going to be hit by the payroll tax, but i'm also almost ready to go get my social security, so i have to make sure both sides are covered. so i want to make sure we don't drop the ball until we get all the way to the end of the game. >> bill: good point, rachel. thank you. now let me get back on the political front, where i'm more comfortable than the sports analogy, there's no doubt we're

going to be back into ar ar -- armageddon. >> it will be interesting to see what has changed. >> bill: you think president obama will have an advantage going into both of those next two rounds? >> he might. and i really feel like if this fracture in the gop continues and there's no sign that it is going anywhere, like we said earlier, the house leaders who split on this bill will be the house leaders in the next congress too. assuming that that split continues, i think there's room for the president to take advantage of that. the public has shown in the polling, so far that they still continue to believe that republicans are much more responsible for this gridlock

and break down. >> no doubt about it. >> bill: again, president obama in his latest interview has said that he is determined to make gun control a top priority. he said he is going to put his full weight behind it. so what can we expect. we'll talk about this next. it is 2013 wow! >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ every day presents another exciting issue. from financial regulation, iran getting a nuclear bomb, civil war in syria, fraud on wall street, destruction of medicare and medicaid. there are real issues here. having been a governor, i know that trade-offs are tough. things everyday exploding around the world that leave no shortage for exciting conversations. i want our viewer to understand why things have happened. at the end of the show, you know

what has happened, why its happened and more importantly, what's going to happen tomorrow.

♪ >> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress. this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and current

tv. >> bill: hey, good to see you this morning welcome back and happy new year. thirty-three minutes after the hour here. the "full court press" coming to you live coast-to-coast on your local progressive radio station and of course on current tv. you and i are back to work this morning, but there are some people in washington who never had a break, including congress women eleanor holmes norton joining us in studio. happy new year and welcome back. >> happier new year. >> bill: let's hope so. evan also was working during the holidays for talking points memo. this is another issue we talked about many times. that you do not have a vote on the floor, which you should because those of us that live in the district deserve

representation for the taxes we pay. some day you will. had you a vote would you have voted for this deal? >> i would have voted for the deal, but i preferred a grand bargain, and this is why. every time that social security and medicare came up democrats could say rightly that that's not what created this deficit, and point to the two unpaid wars. we could point to most [ inaudible ] the bush tax cuts. now we're left to negotiate spending cuts versus spending cuts, which spending cuts do you want? and i think that will be a much more contentious debate and i think having it up against the debt ceiling will make it even worse. >> bill: so those that feel good about the fact -- like bernie

sanders voted for this deal and i read for one reason is it didn't touch social security or medicare. but it is coming back, right? >> there's no way it is not coming back. the republicans didn't get very much for this. there is some deficit reduction in this bill. what did they want? they wanted entitlement cuts. and let's face it everybody says there has to be -- i'm still a tenured professor of georgetown and i teach a course there, but not the one i enjoyed most which is negotiations for lawyers. [ laughter ] >> i don't like the negotiations we're in now. you put democrats against

democrats, so we are not in for -- this was very important what happened -- by the way, everything has to be judgment. >> bill: good point. >> that this was pulled out at all is just a miracle. and i think the president has to be given enormous credit for standing strong, and the senate has to be given credit for saying don't you come back over here. we will not take it up. so that was an offer they could not refuse and look what happened. almost twice as many democrats voted for it as republicans. and one of the things that i hope the republicans have gotten over is the notion that a bill shouldn't go through -- that is the essence of partisanship. you have got to want a bill to go through with members on both sides, and they will never get a

bill through ever. this was a classic bipartisan bill. >> bill: how do you rate it in terms of middle class americans? yes, they won't have to pay taxes on up to $400,000 worth of income, as if you could define that as middle class. >> exactly. >> bill: but payroll taxes go up on 100%. >> yeah. but i don't think anybody expected that to last much beyond the recession. so i think people were prepared to accept that. the democrats wanted to focus on these bush tax cuts. when people say the bush tax cuts are still here well they are not. part of the bush tax cuts were

things that we always wanted, those will remain. and we begin to make some -- and this is very important to me. we begin to make some headway on closing that income gap, which is -- is taking away the middle class from our country. >> uh-huh. >> you mentioned that coming up is -- >> bill: sorry. >> that's all right. coming up you mentioned there is going to be a fight over spending cuts do you feel like revenue talk is overnow? president obama talked about maybe talking about revenue again. >> i think revenue is going to

come up again, but only in the context of tax reform. i don't think we can open our mouths about revenue after getting rid of what was the major -- the centerpiece of barack obama's campaign and now to come back and say let's talk revenue, it doesn't necessarily lie in your mouth. we have got to get together and figure out how are woe going to deal with medicare and medicaid which we haven't faced. the closest we have come to having a view on this issue is what the president put on the table, and he has put some cuts in at least medicare in his career. >> bill: you have been through many battles, and you have won some and lost some and i'm sure you never got # 00% of what you

started out. this whole experience really speaks to the compromise doesn't it? >> yeah, and to think there were 150 republicans who voted against their leadership who still are unwilling to compromise. that's very scary. they can't wait for the debt ceiling. they are mad, and i think everybody better watch them when that many members of the republican caucus go away not just losers but mad losers, they are prepared to do whatever it takes to get what they want next time. i don't know what the president means when he said i wanted to go [ inaudible ] over the debt ceiling, and the debt ceiling is coming. >> yeah. >> the most he can do is to start negotiations right now,

and maybe do something with the appropriations process with the cuts. because i don't see how he can't avoid the debt ceiling, so i don't understand what he means i will not trade the debt ceiling. >> bill: i think a lot of democrats and liberals are concerned that he will negotiate the debt ceiling. which i saw alijah cummings said i see a tougher barack obama since reelection. do you? >> oh, much tougher, and i think it's not only reelection. i think its second term. there is a lot he hasn't done

that he wanted to do. my problem with standing tough on the next round -- and that's all it is the next round and it's a tougher round is i don't know what the democratic position is. what is our position on medicaid and -- let's not trade off medicaid and medicare. they are different things. we have to this point had -- had the position that you shouldn't do anything to medicare because we haven't sat down and figured out what to do with medicare. nobody can claim with health costs -- >> bill: right. escalating the way they are. >> the most escalating. but what we stood on is the affordable health care act, which did lengthen the life of

medicare for about ten years. now what ary going to do in our next act. there has to be a lot tougher leadership from the president. >> bill: you mentioned, congress woman some of the items that may be in addition to doing with this fiscal crisis that may be part of the president's agenda in the second term. so when we come back i want to ask you about some of those. immigration reform global warming, and gun control. your calls welcome at 866-55-press. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. ♪ commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers

thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

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>> announcer: heard around the country, and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: thirteen minutes before the top of the hour. congress woman eleanor holmes norton is in studio with us. congress woman president obama made a rare appearance on meet the press with david gregory. and he mentioned something else that is a high priority for him. >> obama: i'm going to be putting forward a package, and pulling my full weight behind it, and making an argument to the american people about why this is important, and why we have to do everything we can to

make sure something like what hand at sandy hook elementary does not happen again. >> bill: and he was talking of course about reasonable gun control. the president says it is going to be a high priority. evan you have been writing about this. can we expect some reasonable gun-control measures. >> you'll notice when he named his priorities gun control was not in his first four priorities. this is a man who knows how to put his priorities where they fall in light of where the congress is. immigration had to be there. >> bill: yeah. >> the hispanics did their part. the president would not have done what he must do now. he could not have done that in the first term and he must do it. >> bill: immigration reform -- >> yes, and because the

republicans are on their heels on that one, i think that's the way we can start, because we start with an issue that can bring us together more than some of the other issues and yet, i must say if we let newtown go from the public horror for too long that's what it will do and we'll get no changes. >> he mentioned gun control in his speech last night. >> he heard the criticism from before. >> bill: there's a headline who pays for the right to bare arms and he makes the point that newtown shocked us all but the broader tragedy of guns is felt

mostly in america's inner cities. >> yes, when we see -- >> bill: day in and day out. >> nothing is more horrible than taking a shotgun and mowing down kids in a school, especially the youngest kids in that school but we have seen no such sensitivity to guns in the inner city, and even when as is often the case, children have been the victims. >> bill: i guess having walked away from relief for hurricane victims of hurricane sandy last night, i guess nothing would surprise me -- >> they took care of the dairy farmers, and i'm for that but i must say having been chair of the subcommittee at the time of katrina, when you have a major disaster like this people's sense of their own future is at

the lowest it has ever been. this was the moment to say your government is -- is here for you. we know that this is a moment when only the federal government can really be here for you, and to have let this go is -- is a horrible disappointment i think to anyone who saw how we thought we really had to do something after katrina, which of course we did. but here we have one that has the same kind of residents in the northeast, and we close the congress without doing anything. shame on us. >> real quickly you have seen a lot of these tragedies happen and a lot of discussion of gun control up in washington in your time here. do you feel like this is different, though? you don't sound too confident,

but do you feel like there is a chance? do you feel different about the discussions now versus after araurora and other tragedies. >> i do. but the press does what it has to do whatever the news of the day is. i would like to see leadership from the people of newtown. i believe that they have the singular ability to keep this going in the congress and if they go back to their -- and they have got to go back to doing what they do every day, but i think they surely must feel more strongly than any of us. remember, though connecticut is also the home of some of the big gun manufacturers, and they have had their own problems there, but newtown is in a position that none of the other local

communities took advantage of. not here at virginia tech or columbine, it's their responsibility to keep this in the public eye and make congress act. >> bill: i think that's a great point. and the women victims of 9/11 jwhat they were able to do to form that task force. congress woman it's always so good to see you. thank you for your time. >> always a pleasure, bill. >> bill: evan nice to see you too. thank you. >> thanks. >> bill: you can follow evan at talkingpointsmemo.com. i'll be right back with the parting shot. >> announcer: on your radio, on tv, the "bill press show," new on current tv. ♪

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>> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey on this wednesday january 2nd, my parting shot for the day, we all grew up being taught that the founding fathers did a good job when they came up with this system of checks and plans. but now we realize that presumes that both sides want to get things done, want to do what is best for the country. we know that is not the case because up until the very last minute yesterday members in one party were determined to let america fail if they couldn't get their way, 100%.

fortunately they didn't make it. but it shows the inherent problem in this system. it's too bad the founding fathers can't give us a national referendum. no doubt if we held one of those tomorrow every single republican in the house of representatives would be thrown out of office for incompetence and should be. see you back here again tomorrow.